Shortly after arriving in Boulder last summer as a new member of the Colorado women’s basketball team, Desiree Wooten began working out with her new teammates.
It didn’t take long for her to experience some new and, sometimes, scary issues with her body.
“In the beginning, I’m not gonna lie, it was really rough because I’ve never seen what was happening to me happen to me or anybody else,” the junior guard said.
Wooten, who has been diagnosed with sickle cell trait (SCT), quickly learned that the impact at high elevation can cause problems.
“My arms were swelling up, and it would just be to the point where I would run, but I would have to stop running because I just couldn’t run no more,” she said. “The arm swelling was really what got me to be honest. That was the scariest one. I had no elbow for a few days. I was like, ‘Bro, this is not normal.’”
Throughout this season, Wooten has been able to manage her SCT, while helping the Buffaloes reach the NCAA Tournament. She and the Buffs (22-11) will take on Illinois (21-11) in the first round of March Madness in Nashville on Saturday (7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
Wooten grew up in the Dallas area and spent her first three years of college basketball at North Texas (including a redshirt year in 2022-23). While playing for the Mean Green, she learned she had SCT.
“They did the blood work, and when they first told me I had it, I was like, ‘Whoa, what is that?’ It sounded serious,” Wooten said. “But, it wasn’t nothing major to them because it was at sea level, so itap just like, you just get fatigued a little faster than everybody else, muscles may tighten up on you or whatever.”
Other athletes have been diagnosed with SCT, most notably former NFL star Ryan Clark. SCT can affect the red blood cells and Clark, a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, had a near-fatal episode triggered by the altitude while playing a game in Denver against the Broncos in 2007.
Clark wound up losing his spleen and gall bladder, and throughout the rest of his career, Clark would not play when the Steelers came to Denver.
Wooten has not experienced anything close to that severity, but has had to manage her health.
“I think, honestly, I just got used to it,” she said. “I’ve pretty much just pushed through. (Clark’s) must’ve been worse than mine.”
Fortunately for Wooten, there have not been serious complications, and CU’s staff has worked with her to keep her healthy.
“The biggest thing is just our training staff and our strength coach being really, really on top of it,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “Also, us having the mindset of like health over everything. So, sure, we might wish that she could do all the conditioning that we’re doing, but thatap not safe or healthy, so she’s not gonna do it. And there’s other ways to skin a cat. So she’s very fit, but we’ve done it in a smart way.”
Wooten is enjoying a stellar season. She leads the Buffs in scoring, at a career-high 13.3 points per game, while also posting 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. She earned All-Big 12 honorable mention and was named the team’s “sixth man” of the year.
“I’m pretty pleased, to be honest,” she said. “I’m grateful for all the awards I got and stuff like that.”
Wooten hit the 1,000-point mark for her career (she’s at 1,001) during the Buffs’ Big 12 tournament semifinal loss to West Virginia on March 7, and has played her best basketball down the stretch of the season.
In the last six games – three of them against top-25 teams – she’s averaged 17.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. She credits comfort in CU’s system and with her teammates for that success.
“I feel like itap just coming a lot more natural now,” she said.
With her health under control and her comfort growing, Wooten is excited for the NCAA Tournament and beyond, as she has another year of eligibility.
“I just wanna elevate my game as much as I can. I just wanna elevate it from where it already is, and just keep going. … I know I got a long ways to go and I know I got a higher ceiling to reach.”
